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To: terry@cs.weber.edu (Terry Lambert)
cc: rgrimes@gndrsh.aac.dev.com (Rodney W. Grimes), brian@MediaCity.Com,
        freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.org
Subject: Re: A question of downloading device drivers 
In-reply-to: Your message of "Tue, 09 May 1995 16:25:19 MDT."
             <9505092225.AA19871@cs.weber.edu> 
Date: Tue, 09 May 1995 17:30:49 -0700
From: "Justin T. Gibbs" <gibbs@estienne.CS.Berkeley.EDU>
Sender: hackers-owner@FreeBSD.org
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>> >     include the microcode as a giant static array in the device driver 8-(
>> 
>> Please no, this is what the aic7770 (aha2940 and friends) had to do, but
>> then you could not get the file from disk easily if you where booting from
>> this type of adapter.
>
>This was a conscious choice for the AIC7770 support.  The POST on the

A conscious choice on the part of Adaptec or the developer?

>cards loads a default microcode image that could be used to bootstrap
>to the point where the "preferred" microcode could be read from the
>file system (or preferrably, a VM86() mode would be used to obtain
>compatability for all controllers, not just AIC7770's running default
>microcode).
>
>A proof, I offer the fact the the darn things boot and run DOS without
>any special software being necessary.

Offer the technical specs for the interface to the default microcode 
and you offer an alternative (asuming we don't have VM86).  Until then, 
there is no choice to be made.  The board must be running microcode that 
we know the interfaces too in order for the kernel driver to talk to the
board.  The only way we can guarantee that now is by downloading our own
from the get-go.

...

>
>					Terry Lambert
>					terry@cs.weber.edu
>---
>Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
>or previous employers.

--
Justin T. Gibbs
==============================================
TCS Instructional Group - Programmer/Analyst 1
  Cory | Po | Danube | Volga | Parker | Torus
==============================================